The Truth of Fiction
by RevSue
Summary: A flight of fancy imagining the real Mia, Clarisse, Joseph, Charlotte and Shades watching the two Princess Diaries movies ... and hearing about the fanfiction!


The Truth of Fiction

"Grandma?" Nineteen-year-old Mia spoke to her grandmother, Queen Clarisse of Genovia, when Charlotte put the call through. "We've all been invited to a premiere showing of the new Princess Diaries movie. Is there any way you and Joe and Charlotte can come over to here to see it?"

"Oh, Mia, they've done ANOTHER movie about us? I haven't even seen the first one yet!" Clarisse demurred. "You know I am not very interested in such things."

"Well, the producer seemed to think we might like to see it. I told him we hadn't seen the first one, and he said we could go early and they'd show us that one first, then we could see the second one right after. You aren't doing anything next week, are you? Please come, Grandma!"

"TWO movies? You mean we'd have to sit in rather uncomfortable theatre chairs for over four hours?" Clarisse was horrified at the thought.

"We're to have nice arm chairs, Grandma, and lots of space. And free food, too. Come on, Grandma, please? You and Joe and Charlotte and ... and Shades, I think. Bring him, too."

"I'll speak with the others and let you know, Mia. Joseph is supposed to be having his knee replacement surgery next Friday, and Charlotte has booked for holidays for the next two weeks."

"PLEASE talk them into coming! It won't be any fun if they don't come! I've looked the movies up on the Internet, and they sound really interesting! I've seen some of the actors and actresses before, of course, and it's incredible how much they look like us! I want to see if that Anne Hathaway is as much like me as she looks to be!"

Clarisse chuckled, thinking indulgently that she had been more interested in her own affairs when she was younger as well. "Well, I certainly didn't think I looked THAT much like Julie Andrews!"

"You do so, Grandma! Except maybe you're a little prettier."

"Flatterer."

"Was it enough to make you feel generous and want to grant me this favour?" Mia laughed. Then she rushed on. "The second movie takes place five years after the first one, so I'm supposedly twenty-one at the start of it, which means it's not just following what we already know. It's a story that the writers have made up. Oh, Grandma, you HAVE to come, and you HAVE to talk the others into coming as well. Joe can go back and get his knee done the next week. Surely you have some pull with the doctors, don't you? Please, will you all come, Grandma?"

"I'll speak with them, Mia," Clarisse repeated. "I promise. But I will not promise that we will come next week. If you will excuse me now, Charlotte is standing here with numerous papers to sign, so I'll talk to you when I know something more. Good-bye!" and she passed the phone back to Charlotte to hang up. Shaking her head, Clarisse put her glasses back on and waited for Charlotte to put the letters in front of her. When no paper appeared, she looked up. "Charlotte?"

"Your majesty, I couldn't help but overhear your side of the conversation." Charlotte began, hesitantly. "If my taking vacation next week is a problem, I can easily switch it."

Clarisse smiled. "No, it's not a problem."

"Then ...?" Charlotte prompted, when no further explanation was given. "What did Princess Mia want you to ask?"

Clarisse looked down at the desk and tapped the pen on the blotter. "She wanted us to go to San Francisco next week. In July! Do you realize how hot it will be there?"

"Us?" Charlotte asked carefully.

"You. Joseph. And myself, of course." Clarisse frowned a little, trying to remember who else Mia had mentioned. "And someone who apparently goes by the ridiculous nickname of ... Sunglasses, or something."

Charlotte grinned. "That would be Shades, your Majesty. He's Joseph's second-in-command."

"Ah," Clarisse nodded, but her expression remained non-committal. "And has his nickname always been Shades?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"You would know," Clarisse commented.

"Yes, your Majesty." Charlotte agreed, smiling. "Joseph is training him to take over when ... well, to take over sometime. He'll be the one in charge while Joseph is out with his knee surgery."

"Yes, well, Mia wants us to go over to watch a movie. TWO movies. The two Princess Diaries movies. Apparently the second one is coming out shortly, and we are to be granted a preview. Small price for the movie-makers to pay, I must say, when they used our story from three years ago! I'd almost forgotten about the first movie, and had had no idea they were planning a second. This one is set a couple of years in the future, Mia said ... beginning around her twenty-first birthday."

"It sounds quite intriguing. I would be willing to go, if you are, your Majesty. And I'm sure Shades will jump at the chance to go to America. If you go, there is no doubt but that Joseph will put off his knee surgery to accompany you." Charlotte dared to offer her opinion.

"To be honest, I would much prefer NOT to go at all. However if I must return to San Francisco, I'd like it to be in December, not July. In fact, I'd like to call Mia back tomorrow and ask her if it would be at all possible to postpone the showing of the movies until after Christmas. That way, Joseph can still have his surgery and you would have your planned vacation. Would you still be willing to go to San Francisco the end of December, Charlotte?"

"Of course, your Majesty! Anytime you decide would be fine with me."

"Very well. If it means so much to Mia, I suppose I must go. I will speak with Joseph about it, if you would be so good as to speak with ... Shades," Clarisse said crisply. "Now, may I please have the letters I must sign?"

"Oh! Certainly, your Majesty!" and Charlotte quickly put the pile of letters down in front of the queen.

Clarisse was never sure whether it was a desire to please Mia, or whether the enthusiasm of the other three from Genovia was responsible, but the last week of December, she found herself being ushered into a private screening room with Mia, Joseph, Charlotte and Shades. Although they were not getting a sneak preview of the second movie, since it had been showing for the last four months around the continent, they had been granted a private viewing of both movies. True to Mia's information, five comfortable-looking armchairs were set side by side on one side of the large room, facing the wall which would be the screen. In front of them, within reach, was a small fridge stocked with various cold drinks, as well as a tea tray with fine china cups, and a veritable buffet of snacks.

"Please, help yourselves to anything you wish, your Majesty," The woman who had shown them in waved vaguely at the room. "The movie will begin in ten minutes." Without waiting for an answer, she bowed nervously and vanished.

"Grandma, do you want something cold or some tea to start?" Mia took charge immediately.

"I'd like to know when and how the tea was made, first," Clarisse murmured. "I've heard that Americans don't really know how to make the beverage properly!"

"I'll make some for you, your Majesty," Charlotte said immediately. "There is the boiling water tap, it says ... and the tea is here." She quickly warmed the pot, added the tea, then poured the boiling water carefully into the teapot. "There, it will be ready in a few moments."

"Thank you, Charlotte," Clarisse smiled gratefully. "Although I would have expected someone from the studio to have been here to look after us."

"Would anyone else like tea?" Charlotte looked at Joseph who shook his head quickly, and Mia who grimaced.

"Not me, thank you," Mia said. "I'll have a Pepsi. Shades?"

"Beer would be nice ..." Shades grinned.

"Shades!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"I'm teasing," he laughed. "Anything cold would be good."

They were finally settled in the chairs. Joseph sat nearest the door, Clarisse was beside him, then Mia, then Charlotte, then Shades. The movie started, and everyone was enthralled right from the beginning.

"It's amazing how much those actors and actresses look like you all!" Shades said, lounging in his chair and munching on popcorn. He knew he wasn't in this movie; being an Internet addict, he had checked out both movies before leaving Genovia. He had also thoroughly irritated the others by hinting at what was in both movies, but refusing to give any specific details.

"I'd like to know how the writers and the producer KNEW some of these things," Mia said, watching her screen counterpart talking with Lilly on the street.

For a while there was silence as the five watched the events from three years ago unfold.

"I didn't know Sheila Motaz needed special pillows because of allergies! I'd have thought that would have been the duties of the housekeeping staff!" Clarisse exclaimed. "I don't think I ever quite realized how much you do, Charlotte!"

"Oh, it's not much ..." Charlotte said quickly.

"Did you have the garden bugged?" asked Mia after watching her screen character stammering upon hearing she was a princess. "How did they know that?"

"Of course I didn't," Clarisse said. "I have no idea how they knew what we were saying!"

"Lip reading?" Shades offered in an undertone. Mia giggled.

"Oh, Joe, you agreed to be my BABYSITTER?" Mia groaned a moment later. "I'm glad you never told me THAT!"

"It was not long before I ceased to think of it as that," Joseph said. "I had faith in you from the very beginning, princess."

"Thanks," Mia was grateful.

"Now THIS was very brave of you, Joe," Mia said, when the dance lesson began. She cringed yet again when the movie Mia jabbed her elbow into Joseph's midriff. "Oops. Sorry, Joe!"

"I recovered," Joseph said dryly. "And you learned very quickly indeed, Princess."

A moment later, Clarisse drew in a sharp breath as the movie Joseph approached her character and said, "You've been wearing black too long."

"Ooh, daring, Joe, very daring," Mia teased him, tossing a kernel of popcorn in his direction.

"No littering, your highness," he said calmly, putting out his hand to catch the popcorn midair and pop it in his mouth.

Then the couple on the screen walked out onto the dance floor, and began dancing.

"Now, THAT'S romantic!" Mia sighed. "Looking into each others' eyes and everything. How come you didn't teach me that dance?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mia!" Clarisse almost snapped. "Romantic?" How could Mia even think such a thing, let alone say it out loud! And yet ... it DID look romantic ... and if she remembered correctly, it HAD been romantic. And she had thrown caution to the wind and danced with Joseph, allowing him to see her heart in her eyes. The moment the dance was over, however, she had quickly re-erected the barrier she generally hid behind. Now she watched that moment captured on film and was dismayed. Too much of herself and her inner feelings were being displayed on the screen. Yet she refused to concede that the movie was true to life in every respect. How could it be? No one knew her deepest feelings but herself. She had been alone for a very, very long time. But now ... now this movie was portraying her as being mildly attracted to Joseph!

"Looks romantic to me," Shades volunteered, but Clarisse ignored his comment.

Then Charlotte moaned, "Oh, no!" as her character walked in on the couple, then backed out quietly.

"So, it appears our dance was not as private as I had originally thought," Joseph said.

When it came time for Mia's makeover in the movie, and Paolo entered with a flourish, Mia laughed as the movie Clarisse wiped her hand after tugging it away from Paolo's grip.

"Hey, Grandma, you don't like him kissing your hand, either?" she chuckled.

"He has a very wet kiss," Clarisse said. "And I was not wearing gloves. That is one definite advantage to wearing gloves at all times."

"But you DID manage to get her to stop wearing black, Joe? Did you notice?" Mia grinned.

Clarisse rolled her eyes and took a sip of tea. She grimaced at the taste of the now-cold beverage. "It was time," she said, putting the cup down. "After all, I had been wearing black for almost a year." Besides, she was not a naive young girl. She could guess when a man was interested in her, and she suspected that Joseph was very interested in her as a woman, and not just as his queen. However, he had never said or done anything untoward with regards to that interest, so Clarisse pretended she never saw the desire in his eyes.

As she watched herself in her room while packing to leave, Mia said, "This part isn't EXACTLY how it was, but it's close. And I KNOW Fat Louis couldn't have told anyone. I wonder how the writers knew what to put? Hey, Joe, good for you! You were the first to guess I was going to bolt, I see! I'm SO glad you tracked me down and got me to the Embassy on time after all!"

"I trust I will never have to effect a similar rescue, Princess." Joseph's voice was quiet, but held a hint of laughter.

Then Mia laughed again when the movie Clarisse told Charlotte she was not very good at lying. "I'll have to remember that," Mia teased the woman at her side.

At the end, when the movie Mia was presented to the crowd at the Embassy and made her acceptance speech, saying she would be known as the princess of Genovia, both Clarisse and Mia turned to each other and simultaneously said, "Wasn't it a glorious feeling that night?"

Clarisse smiled softly as she watched, remembering how ecstatic she had been that night three years ago now. Mia had looked lovely, once Paolo had arrived and she had been readied properly for the ball.

"Nice catch, Charlotte!" Mia cheered when the movie Charlotte returned the vase which Baron von Troken had attempted to take. "You really do keep up on everything, don't you?"

"It's my job," Charlotte shrugged.

"And you do it excellently well!" Clarisse put in.

"Thank you, your Majesty. I try."

"Oh, how embarrassing!" Mia suddenly said. "They aren't going to put the KISS in, are they?"

"They did," Joseph murmured a few moments later.

"Ooh, but look what they put in here where you and Grandma are dancing, then sneaking off for a little private whoopie!" Mia crowed next, forgetting her embarrassment at seeing what she assumed was an indiscretion on her grandmother's part.

"Mia, really!" Clarisse exclaimed, shifting uneasily. "We were NOT ... sneaking off!"

Joseph cleared his throat and eased his turtleneck away from his throat, trying to be nonchalant about it. "I would not have said we were sneaking off either. And Shades," he added quickly, "don't bother saying that it looks like it to you!"

"Well, it does," Shades muttered to Charlotte. Mia overheard and grinned widely, nodding at the man in agreement.

When the end of the movie came, Mia shook her head. "Well, they got THAT wrong! Yes, I went to Genovia for the summer, but I certainly didn't MOVE over there with Mom! Oh well. That was great, wasn't it? Aren't you glad you came now, Grandma?"

"Well, it was an experience, I must say," Clarisse said, still trying to control her blush. Although it had looked as though she and Joseph had ...SNUCK off, as Mia said, for a little interlude, that had NOT been the case. She wondered if she should make that quite clear to Mia, Charlotte and Shades, but decided that it would look as though she was protesting too much.

The lights came on and Mia bounded out of her chair to check out the food on the table in front of them. Joseph looked over at Clarisse, concern in his expression. "I do hope the few parts in the movie with you and I were not too worrisome, your Majesty." he said in a low voice. "I assure you that ..."

"Oh, Joseph," Clarisse smiled, putting her hand on his and squeezing it gently. "It was, as Mia said, just a movie. You and I know the truth, and that is all that really matters."

"Yes," he nodded, but he didn't look convinced.

Just then the door opened and the same harried-looking woman who had met them appeared. "Are you all all right here? Need anything? Good! The next movie will start in five minutes." She vanished as quickly as she had appeared. The five looked at each other and laughed.

Clarisse got up and walked around a bit to stretch her legs, Joseph kept his customary two paces behind her. Shades, Charlotte and Mia were standing at the buffet table, arguing the merits of Pepsi over Coke and other inane things. Then they all settled back in their chairs to watch the next movie.

"Isn't that the same scene that was at the end of the last movie?" Clarisse wondered aloud as the picture opened with Mia's graduation, then moved quickly to showing her on the airplane and arriving in Genovia.

"Sure is," Mia grinned. "You do that 'Welcome to Genovia' SO well, Joe!"

"Thank you. I think." Joseph said.

"Getting right into my birthday party, I see. There you are, Shades!" Mia said excitedly. Then she laughed. "Oh, Charlotte, can't you leave him alone sometimes?"

"He was leaning against the wall." Charlotte defended her screen character. "He should be at attention when the queen is coming!"

"Woohoo, Grandma, quite the dress!" Mia commented. "Aww, how sweet you are, Joe. See? Even Grandma thinks so, that's why she touches your cheek like that. WHOA, Grandma! Looks like they forgot the back on that dress! Are you wearing anything underneath?"

"Mia, please, can we not watch this movie without the extraneous comments?" Clarisse felt compelled to say. The dress rather shocked her, too, since from the front it had looked so very lovely and demure! Surely it was just the angle of the camera and the lighting which had caused the illusion of nudity beneath sheer material on the back!

"Sorry, Grandma. I have a bad habit of talking during movies, but I'll try to control myself." Mia said contritely. "But I told you my nickname was Motormouth!"

For a short time, there was silence punctuated by the occasional laugh. Then Clarisse herself broke the silence when she grimaced and said, "They put that SNAKE of a man in the movie?"

"Grandma!" Mia was shocked at her grandmother's words. "Who is he again?"

"Viscount Mabrey," Joseph supplied the answer. "A member of Parliament."

"Was he here for the Independence Day Ball three years ago?"

"Thankfully, no," Clarisse said. "Shhh!"

Then Mia whispered to Charlotte, "That Nicholas is CUTE! Is he real? I mean, IS there a Nicholas who looks like that in Genovia?"

"Yes, your Highness," Charlotte whispered back.

Mia's smile grew broader, and she sat back. She watched the continual curtseys of the two ladies' maids and again leaned over to Charlotte. "The Bobbsey twins or Laurel and Hardy or the two Stooges or something! Please tell me THEY are not real!"

"If they are, I haven't met them, your Highness," Charlotte murmured.

"Hmm, that Lionel sure has it bad, doesn't he?" Shades said next. "Tell me, does the Prime Minister REALLY have a nephew Lionel?"

"I hope not," Clarisse almost shuddered. "Surely our security team can do better than THAT for interns!"

"Oh, I don't know, Grandma," Mia chuckled. "He seems quite smitten with you. And he thinks Joe is so cool."

"Joe does not return the sentiment," Joseph spoke solemnly.

Clarisse smothered her chuckle and put her hand on his again, leaning over to whisper, "No need to worry, Joseph. We will make sure we find a reason NOT to accept him as an intern should Sebastian Motaz ever suggest a nephew named Lionel."

Joseph smiled at her, turning his hand over and capturing hers. His thumb moved caressingly on the smooth skin on the back of her hand, and Clarisse suddenly felt a rush of heat flow through her body. She made a feeble attempt to free her fingers from his, but to no avail. At last she gave up and tried to ignore his touch.

Suddenly Mia sat up straight. After hearing Viscount Mabrey in Parliament say that, according to Genovian law, she could not rule unless she is married, Mia turned to Clarisse. "Is that true, Grandma?" she demanded in a fierce whisper. "Is that REALLY a law?"

"Well, yes, but it hasn't been invoked for centuries ..." Clarisse said, just as her movie counterpart said the same thing.

Mia crossed her arms and frowned as she continued watching. Forgetting her hand was still resting in Joseph's, Clarisse divided her attention between her grand-daughter and the movie, hoping that Mia would accept this information as the trivial matter that it really was. Clarisse was sure that such a decree would NEVER happen in the twenty-first century. An arranged marriage within thirty days for the child? Ridiculous! Not to be thought of! If only Viscount Mabrey were not in Parliament! However, forewarned is forearmed, and now she would be ready if such a thing ever were to occur!

"Grandma?" now Mia was speaking in a timid voice. "Is THAT true, too? That your marriage was arranged and that you never really loved your husband? That you were fond of him, but nothing more?"

"I don't care to discuss my private life at this moment, Mia," Clarisse said crisply, very aware now that her hand was encased in Joseph's and that he was stroking it soothingly, as if knowing how agitated the movie was making her feel.

Snorting when her movie character became engaged to the young man from Britain who had met all the qualifications for a queen's consort, Mia couldn't help but grin when Nicholas obeyed his uncle's decree to romance the princess. "This could be interesting," she murmured to Charlotte. "Going from no love interest to two in a week?"

"Oh, oh, bad move, princess!" Shades muttered when, just a few days after her engagement to the impeccable and impossibly proper Andrew, the screen Mia pulled Nicholas into a closet to continue scolding him for not revealing his full identity at her birthday ball. "See?" he said a few minutes later when the housekeeper opened the closet door, then closed it again on them.

Then everyone was rivetted to the scene where Joseph and Clarisse descended the stairs and walked along the path to the gazebo. Joseph snorted in disgust. "Earring's in the wrong ear!" he muttered. "Consistency! What this movie lacks is a plethora of continuity!"

When the screen Joseph made his plea to the queen to forget about the wedding and asked her to think about them as a couple, Mia clapped, cheered and whistled. Clarisse shifted uncomfortably, but Mia leaned over and patted Joseph's knee. "Way to go, Joe! You should have kissed her, though."

"Mia, really!" Clarisse was exasperated and flustered, and didn't like the feeling one bit. IF Joseph had any such feelings for her, they had been 'in the shadows', so to speak, and should remain there! All this movie was doing was putting inappropriate thoughts into others' heads!

"At least I didn't interrupt you both THIS time!" Charlotte exclaimed with satisfaction.

"Charlotte!" Clarisse sputtered. "This is a movie. JUST a movie! Might I remind you that it has no basis in fact."

"Sorry, your Majesty," Charlotte murmured. "I ... forgot myself."

"So, Grandma," Mia said next, after giggling through the archery and the fan lesson, then the chicken in the throne room incident, "a princess never chases a chicken? I'll be sure to remember that!"

After the next embarrassing incident, Joseph groaned, then commented, "Well, now that I know about Herbie, Princess, you may be sure that THAT scene will never happen in real life!"

In the following tack room sequence, everyone gasped when the Viscount said to Joseph, "I think the entire country understands how you well you cater for the crown's emotions."

"Ooh, Joe, I'm impressed by how you kept your cool when that creep said that!" Mia breathed. "Is he REALLY like that?"

"Why do you think I called him a snake?" Clarisse said, still stunned by the Viscount's statement in the movie. The entire COUNTRY knew Joseph was attracted to her? She could hardly believe it. She didn't pay much attention to the singing and mingling at the garden fete which followed in the movie, being much too absorbed in her thoughts about what was being revealed about her personal, private life through this medium

"Why am I kissing Nicholas when I'm engaged to Andrew?" Mia whispered to Charlotte as she watched the events of the garden fete unfold before her eyes.

"I don't know, your highness," Charlotte whispered back. "Guess you thought he was hot?" and the two giggled uncontrollably.

When the queen berated the princess on screen following the events at the garden party, Clarisse was nodding. "As I would do it,"she said.

"Aww, Grandma! It's not like it was my fault, you know."

"Anything that happens will be perceived your fault by some people. Best to recognize that right away." Clarisse advised her gently. She felt the gentle pressure on her hand as Joseph caressed it lightly with his thumb, and glanced at him quickly before turning back to the movie.

"Ooh, someone for Lilly!" was Mia's next comment when Captain Kelly of the Royal Guard made Lilly's acquaintance at the Mustang before the parade.

Clarisse winced when the wild music started for the mattress surfing at Mia's bridal shower. Then she graciously nodded when the others cheered as her movie character surfed down standing up on the mattress. "I used to do that quite often when the boys were young," she observed, "but I don't know that I would do it NOW!"

"You could do anything you wanted to, I think," Shades said.

Joseph said nothing, only tightened his hand on hers. Clarisse again stirred restlessly in her chair, then for once ignored her tendency towards perfect posture, and allowed herself to lean against the armrest closest to Joseph. He shifted almost imperceptibly as well so that his shoulder was touching hers, and spoke huskily in her ear, "I called you darling in the gazebo ... did you notice?"

Clarisse swallowed, then slowly turned and her gaze met his. She could see the desire burning in his eyes, and quickly looked away before he could see how she was affected by it.

When Julie Andrews sang, Mia sighed with delight. "Oh, Grandma, I wish you HAD done that song for me for my eighteenth birthday. It's lovely!"

"I don't have Julie Andrews' voice, I'm afraid," Clarisse laughed lightly at the thought, and renewed her efforts to free her hand from Joseph's, though to no avail.

"Romantic dancing AGAIN!" Mia whispered loudly when the movie Joseph slipped in to dance with Clarisse while she was listening to possible wedding selections. Moments later, Mia sighed. "Oh, oh, Joe! Too soon! You should have waited until AFTER I was married to press her. Well, at least now you have some pointers on how NOT to win the woman of your dreams!"

"I believe I am quite capable of handling my own affairs of the heart without any help or advice from a movie OR from you, princess," Joseph said mildly.

Charlotte muttered that it wasn't fair that SHE was the person who seemed to always butt in on their private moments, and Shades quickly cut off his guffaw of laughter when Joseph leaned forward and fixed him with a glare.

"You know," Mia said suddenly, "even though this movie is supposedly about me getting married or falling in love, they're sure putting in a lot of YOU, Grandma, falling in love, too!"

"Nonsense. Falling in love at my age? Please!" Clarisse was proud of the scornful tone she achieved. Then she added severely, "And I DO hope, Mia, that you would never forget yourself enough that you attempted such a foolhardy feat as THAT," and she waved at the screen where the princess was climbing out of her window and down the vine in the dark.

"I'm really going to go through with marriage to that stuffed shirt?" Mia sighed later. "Grandma, how could you make me go through with that? ... Oh, thank goodness, I've stopped! ... Oh, Grandma, what a sweet thing to say to me ...Ooh, that's so sad, that you lost the only man you've ever loved!"

Clarisse was glad of the relative darkness in the theatre, as she knew her face was burning. How could the writers and producers of this movie have known so much about her? Had she not managed to keep her feelings for Joseph hidden? She had barely been aware of them herself, convinced that no one else could possibly suspect, yet now they were being displayed on the screen for the entire world to see! Was she really that easy to read?

Then, in stunned silence, all five watched the next few minutes where the princess managed to sway the parliament and the motion was passed that the marriage law be repealed. The movie Mia spoke into the communication device, saying softly to her grandmother, "Just because I didn't get MY fairy tale ending doesn't mean you shouldn't."

"Oh, how sweet!" Charlotte sighed happily as the movie Clarisse and Joseph walked up the aisle and were FINALLY married by the archbishop, who had apparently known about the romance all along.

"What I would like to know, Joe, is how you happened to have a wedding ring handy?" Shades chuckled.

"Maybe you dropped it when you were juggling the baby and the pillow?" Charlotte teased him, "and Joseph happened to find it on the floor?"

"Ewww, then Grandma would be married with the ring that Andrew bought ... and I think she deserves her OWN ring, don't you? Joe, you'd better buy a ring now and keep it in your pocket just in case this comes up sometime!"

"I THINK you are all forgetting that we are watching a movie here, of fictitious events," Clarisse said, a trifle unevenly. "How could there be a word of truth in it?"

Then Mia suddenly noticed the clasped hands on the arm rest. She nudged Charlotte, indicated the handholding, and whispered, "Maybe their romance IS really true? I DO hope so! You'd better keep an eye out, and let me know when you walk in on them again! Promise?"

When Nicholas appeared in the throne room to tell Mia he loved her, the real-life Mia sighed happily, and whispered to Charlotte, "You're absolutely SURE he's real? Can I meet him next time I go to Genovia?"

"I'll see if it can be arranged, your highness," Charlotte murmured back.

The coronation of Queen Amelia was watched in silence, although Shades snickered a bit and muttered to Charlotte, "You're crying! I can't believe you'd cry at something like this!" Then he looked at her more closely. "Hey, you're crying NOW, just WATCHING it!"

"Why not?" Charlotte defended herself, blinking back tears. "It's like the end of an era or something. And I really enjoy working with Queen Clarisse."

"Yeah, and I might be horrible to work for," Mia added. "Oh, look, Grandma! I winked at Nicholas ... and I love how Joe comes up to stand beside you and you have such a nice smile for him. Oh, it's so obvious you've been in love for ages and ages ..."

"Well, that was certainly very different from reality!" Clarisse said, disengaging her hand from Joseph's and standing up abruptly when the credits started rolling.

"Wait, your Majesty," Shades spoke quickly. "There are supposedly a few more short clips."

Perching elegantly on the edge of her chair, Clarisse watched, the others cheered and Charlotte looked startled but delighted when the rise of Parliament was shown and it became obvious that women were now members. Charlotte was one of the first to don the wig and be welcomed by the Prime Minister. Then Charlotte was shown again at Mia's side as the new Centre for the Children of Genovia Society was officially opened.

"Looks like even when Grandma steps down and you become a member of Parliament, you're going to be stuck organizing my life the way you organize Grandma's!" Mia grinned at Charlotte.

Joseph merely snorted when his voice was heard suggesting the viewers journey to Genovia, and Shades grumbled that now they could expect all KINDS of tourists over-running their country, eager to visit the Royal Palace and to meet the real people who had inspired the movies.

"Oh, I don't know," Mia mused. "They'd probably have a lot of fun, and it might be neat to meet so many of them, especially if they think they already know our private lives. Can't you just picture a group of women planning how to meet Joe, the man who captured Queen Clarisse's heart?" and she giggled a little.

Joseph bowed theatrically, and said, "I thank you for your compliment, princess! I would be MOST delighted to meet anyone, of course, should that unlikely occasion ever arise."

As Mia poured herself another glass of water while Joseph and Clarisse were looking over the room to make sure everything had been left in order, she overheard Shades telling Charlotte about reading some of the stories on a fanfiction on the Internet, and how the two of them were often romantically linked.

Charlotte just looked at him, and said disdainfully, "You and I? Shades, you are one sick puppy!"

Mia said, "They paired YOU TWO? That's hysterical! Hey, by the way, did you notice that the people who played you two in the movie were brother and sister?"

"I did, but in a review or something on that fanfiction site, I read that it didn't matter because the characters of Charlotte and Shades obviously weren't brother and sister." Shades said.

"Shows how little THEY know, brother dear!" Charlotte said, poking him in the arm. "Obviously you should just stop reading these stories! They're corrupting your tiny mind."

"Well, they only put me with you as far as I'm aware, but YOU, dear sister, were given a few choices for romance in the stories. Sebastian Motaz, for one ..."

"WHAT?" Charlotte looked staggered.

"As I remember that particular story, Sheila Motaz left him, was killed and you stepped in and walked off with the Prime Minister to live happily ever after." Shades grinned. Charlotte made a face. "The OTHER romance choice made for you, almost as often as ME, was to pair you with Prince Pierre."

"UNCLE PIERRE?" Mia squawked.

Joseph and Clarisse looked around, now listening as well. Charlotte blushed furiously as Shades explained fanfiction and the content of some of the stories about Charlotte and himself rather awkwardly to Joseph and Clarisse.

"Well, I HAVE thought of you as a daughter for a long time, so the writers of those stories do seem to know something," smiled Clarisse, very thankful that SHE did not figure in any of these fanfiction stories! Obviously the writers had very active imaginations. She couldn't imagine what they would find of interest in her life ... or Joseph's ... or how the movie writers could ever have suspected that their secret relationship was just as romantic as had been portrayed on the screen!

"Me, too," Joseph said, linking his arm in Clarisse's, "and since obviously I'll be Mia's grandpa in a few years, when she's crowned queen, I'll be glad to welcome you into the family when you marry Prince Pierre, Charlotte."

"Then you'd be my aunt!" Mia grinned, delighted, ignoring Charlotte's feeble protests that the rumour of a relationship between the prince and herself was just fiction, and had no basis in reality. "And since you're her brother, Shades, I can call you UNCLE Shades!"

"Oh, please," he moaned. "I never saw THAT in any fanfic! Uncle Shades?"

"I think we might safely assume that truth and fiction are not even remotely connected when it comes to these movies," Clarisse said, moving regally to the door and waiting for Joseph to open it for her.

"Not even remotely?" Mia whispered to Charlotte and Shades. "Look at them! How much MORE obvious can it be that Joe adores her and that she is very attracted to him?"

"I won't tell her that there are MORE stories about Joseph and her than about Charlotte and I!" Shades muttered back. He thought it prudent not to mention that there were also many stories about the princess!

"I want that address for the fanfiction, Shades!" Mia begged. "I think I'm going to be doing a lot of reading in the next few days!" and the three chuckled as they followed Joseph and Clarisse out.


End file.
